Why did everyone blame JR for Cliff's suicide attempt?

[CeeCee72]

I recently rewatched the last few episodes of season 5 and the first few episodes of season 6. Much of the plot revolved around JR's manipulation of Cliff, Cliffs suicide attempt, and the reaction of the other characters to both those things.

I can't help but to feel the reactions of Rebecca and Ellie were way out of line. Yes, JR "set up" Cliff, but Cliff made the decisions that wrecked his life of his own free will.

JR repeatedly warned Cliff to stay away from Sue Ellen. It was Cliff that chose to deepen his involvement with her, really for no other reason than to stick it to JR.

And yes, JR used Marilee to manipulate Cliff, but no one (not even JR) FORCED Cliff to embezzle from his mother's company.

Rebecca clearly blamed JR and JR alone. I don't get that. I mean, she seems to be pretty forgiving of Sue Ellen, even though it was crystal clear that Sue Ellen didn't really care for Cliff, she was simply using him to upset JR. Rebecca also ignores her own role in Cliff's demise. She is the one who disowned him and turned her back on him after his stealing was revealed. How could she not think that losing her again was a huge reason he tried to end his own life?

Ellie's reaction is even more perplexing to me. She's so furious at JR, she kicks him out as president of Ewing Oil. But why was she so shocked? She knew JR had promised Jock that he'd get John Ross back at Southfork. She knew JR needed John Ross home so that he could vote the boy's shares. She knew that JR viewed Sue Ellen as HIS and would never accept her raising him son with anyone else, ESPECIALLY Cliff Barnes. She knew JR was trying to win Sue Ellen back - she encouraged JR to make up with Sue Ellen, even though she KNEW Sue Ellen was also involved with Cliff.

So, I don't get it. Yeah. JR plotted to break Cliff, but it was Cliff's OWN actions that led to his downfall. So why is everyone blaming JR and making Cliff (the man who lied, cheated, embezzled, and used the people he supposedly loved) poor, innocent martyr while treating JR like the most evil man on the planet?

From my perspective, JR was simply doing what he always did - fighting for what he believed was his by right and Cliff was the victim of his own bad decisions.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Cliff was a grown man but didn’t act like it more often than not. He was responsible for his own actions and his suicide attempt was ultimately his decision. His obsession with the Ewings brought on a lot of his problems. Having said that, J.R. was no angel and I can’t say he was exactly free of blame either. Whether he felt justified or not, quite often he took his revenge plots too far so I can understand how Rebecca felt but ultimately Cliff never learned how to stop going back for more.

 

[Billy Wall]

I agree in general. Cliff is a grown man and he's responsible for himself despite being set up by JR. But since when is Sue Ellen JR's personal property that he has the right to tell someone to stay away from her?

Rebecca took out her own guilt on JR. She removed him as president and he tried to kill himself. Miss Ellie was somewhat hypocritical, but she had the right to hold a vote to remove JR. Ewing Oil wasn't his personal toy that he could use to seek revenge as he chose.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

And yes, JR used Marilee to manipulate Cliff, but no one (not even JR) FORCED Cliff to embezzle from his mother's company.

The pity is that Cliff was surrounded by people at Wentworth Tool and Die who could have given him sound business advice. Once he started hiding things from his own company he was doomed.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Sue Ellen should have been blamed for obviously leading him on to irk JR. I would have liked Lucy to have leveled that accusation against her at the time and again later when Mickey was in the hospital when Lucy said, "She's not satisfied ruining her own life. She has to ruin everyone else's."

 

[lbf522]

What bothered me most about that was the family's amnesia regarding Cliff. Cliff dedicated his life to making theirs a living hell and even tried to have Jock convicted of murder. They should not have cared what JR did to Cliff. At one point even Bobby said to Cliff, "I can understand why my brother destroys you every chance he gets."

 

[Jon Ewing Jr.]

IT also really got on my damn nerves how Afton the tramp lectured Sue Ellen on different things after it happened. Afton screwed JR in Sue Ellen and JRs bedroom and thought it was funny. Afton was nothing but a gold digger.

 

[CeeCee72]

Sue Ellen should have been blamed for obviously leading him on to irk JR. I would have liked Lucy to have leveled that accusation against her at the time and again later when Mickey was in the hospital when Lucy said, "She's not satisfied ruining her own life. She has to ruin everyone else's."

Sue Ellen certainly used Cliff to make JR jealous, but Cliff was using her for the same reason. He didn't try to kill himself because she rejected him, he did it because she refused to give him the money to bail himself out of the mess he caused.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Sue Ellen certainly used Cliff to make JR jealous, but Cliff was using her for the same reason. He didn't try to kill himself because she rejected him, he did it because she refused to give him the money to bail himself out of the mess he caused.

I had the impression that Sue Ellen was ready to go back to JR and just used Cliff asking for the money as a good opportunity to exit stage left without looking as if she was using Cliff.
You are right. Cliff was using her as well. He was always his own worst enemy. I still would have liked to have Lucy call her out because Lucy was good at such comments, and Sue Ellen was never really held responsible for her actions.

 

[Billy Wall]

Sue Ellen certainly used Cliff to make JR jealous, but Cliff was using her for the same reason. He didn't try to kill himself because she rejected him, he did it because she refused to give him the money to bail himself out of the mess he caused.

And if you remember, Sue Ellen called him and he
initially blew her off, UNTIL...Sue Ellen told him she was rich and he rushed over there.

 

[CeeCee72]

And if you remember, Sue Ellen called him and he
initially blew her off, UNTIL...Sue Ellen told him she was rich and he rushed over there.

Excellent point.

 

[CeeCee72]

I had the impression that Sue Ellen was ready to go back to JR and just used Cliff asking for the money as a good opportunity to exit stage left without looking as if she was using Cliff.
You are right. Cliff was using her as well. He was always his own worst enemy. I still would have liked to have Lucy call her out because Lucy was good at such comments, and Sue Ellen was never really held responsible for her actions.

It always bothered me that Lucy never really confronted SE after Mickey died. She even took SE's side when she shot JR.

 

[Billy Wall]

It always bothered me that Lucy never really confronted SE after Mickey died. She even took SE's side when she shot JR.

That's the one thing that Dallas didn't get right. The characters were way too quick to forgive and forget. None of them showed any remorse for Mickey dying.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

It always bothered me that Lucy never really confronted SE after Mickey died. She even took SE's side when she shot JR.

100% agree! There definitely should have been a scene between the two in which Sue Ellen admitted her part in his death, or Lucy seriously read her like a library book.
After Sue Ellen shot JR the Ewings were, imho, uncharacteristically "forgiving and forgetting" about that.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

100% agree! There definitely should have been a scene between the two in which Sue Ellen admitted her part in his death, or Lucy seriously read her like a library book.
After Sue Ellen shot JR the Ewings were, imho, uncharacteristically "forgiving and forgetting" about that.

instead… their feelings and motivations were nearly immediately collectively subsumed by the overwhelming magnetic bare-midriffed passion of young Peter Richards

 

[Toni]

Sue Ellen should have been blamed for obviously leading him on to irk JR. I would have liked Lucy to have leveled that accusation against her at the time and again later when Mickey was in the hospital when Lucy said, "She's not satisfied ruining her own life. She has to ruin everyone else's."

Yes but who said: "Mickey, stop her, she´s drunk!" Lucy had her own part of responsibility in the fiasco, that´s how a great storyline works. If she had been the one to stop her, Lucy would have become the Queen of Cabbage Dolls.

"Mickey, stop her, she´s a drunk.
And a mean old beech too!"
​

 

[Billy Wall]

Yes but who said: "Mickey, stop her, she´s drunk!" Lucy had her own part of responsibility in the fiasco, that´s how a great storyline works. If she had been the one to stop her, Lucy would have become the Queen of Cabbage Dolls.

View attachment 44600 View attachment 44601

"Mickey, stop her, she´s a drunk.
And a mean old beech too!"
​

That's totally different. No way could they put any of the blame on Lucy. Even though she felt guilty about telling Mickey to stop her.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Yes but who said: "Mickey, stop her, she´s drunk!" Lucy had her own part of responsibility in the fiasco, that´s how a great storyline works. If she had been the one to stop her, Lucy would have become the Queen of Cabbage Dolls.

View attachment 44600 View attachment 44601

"Mickey, stop her, she´s a drunk.
And a mean old beech too!"
​

Valid point, but what Sue Ellen did was worse, and she never seemed to be that remorseful.
There should have been a few more scenes between Lucy and Sue Ellen over this. I actually would have even liked to have seen Lucy visit Mickey"s grave even in later seasons and when she was on NuDallas.

 

[Billy Wall]

Valid point, but what Sue Ellen did was worse, and she never seemed to be that remorseful.
There should have been a few more scenes between Lucy and Sue Ellen over this. I actually would have even liked to have seen Lucy visit Mickey"s grave even in later seasons and when she was on NuDallas.

Sue Ellen even had the nerve to act as if she was totally exonerated after she found out that Walt Driscoll was trying to kill Jr. Actually, Walt was the only one to show any real compassion over Mickey.

Other than Jock, when Dallas was done with someone, they were done. I honestly would have liked to have seen Alan Beam or even Peter Richards come back to try to kill JR. They left and was never heard from again.

We all have to realize, Dallas being a nighttime soap probably contributed to them not wanting to prolong storylines. Lucy continuing to hold a grudge against Sue Ellen probably doesn't do anything for the show, especially considering Sue Ellen is one of the main characters and have more important storylines. Unlike day soaps, night soaps have to tell a story in roughly 30 episodes.

 

[Mustard]

Isn't it obvious why? J.R. faked a geological report (which is illegal) that convinced Cliff to basically bankrupt himself and embezzle from Wentworth Tool and Die, not to mention to turn off Sue Ellen to Cliff permanently when Cliff in desperation asked her for a loan. Sue Ellen's presence at Cliff's hospital bed was out of her own guilt. Yes, Cliff should look at himself and his own lack of thoroughness, but J.R.'s illegality with that fake geological report hit Cliff like a hammer.

Of course, J.R. was this vicious because Cliff had almost ruined him financially earlier that season, but Miss Ellie bailed J.R. out by making a deal with Clayton to sell the oil that was stockpiled at the original $33 per barrel. That still cost Ewing Oil something like $10 million, but J.R. would have seen a loss of $30 million plus with the market price of oil falling, would have defaulted on a $200 million loan, plus all the Ewing Oil assets that he put up as collateral, which would have been another $50 million or so lost. J.R. would have cost Ewing Oil something in the region of $280 million! And all because he wanted to get John Ross and Sue Ellen off the Southern Cross Ranch. Losing $10 million from Miss Ellie's deal with Clayton was small change by comparison.